Races of StarCraft

Blizzard Entertainment's bestselling real-time strategy game series StarCraft revolves around interstellar affairs in a distant sector of the galaxy, with three species and multiple factions all vying for supremacy in the sector. The playable species of StarCraft include the Terrans, humans exiled from Earth who excel at adapting to any situation; the Zerg, a race of insectoids obsessed with assimilating other races in pursuit of genetic perfection; and the Protoss, a humanoid species with advanced technology and psionic abilities, attempting to preserve their civilization and strict philosophical way of living from the Zerg. Each of these races has a single campaign in each StarCraft real-time strategy game. In addition to these three, various non-playable races have also been part of the lore of the StarCraft series; the most notable of these is the Xel'Naga, a race which features prominently in the fictional histories of the Protoss and Zerg races.

The original game has sold over 10 million copies internationally, and remains one of the most popular games in the world. One of the main factors responsible for StarCraft's positive reception is the attention paid to the three unique playable races, for each of which Blizzard developed completely different characteristics, graphics, backstories and styles of gameplay, while keeping them balanced in performance against each other. Previous to this, most real-time strategy games consisted of factions and races with the same basic play styles and units with only superficial differences. The use of unique sides in StarCraft has been credited with popularizing the concept within the real-time strategy genre. Contemporary reviews of the game have mostly praised the attention to the gameplay balance between the species, as well as the fictional stories built up around them.

Evil Queen (Disney)

The Evil Queen, also known as the Wicked Queen or just the Queen, and sometimes instead identified by her given name as Queen Grimhilde, is the primary antagonist in Disney's 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She is based on the Evil Queen character from the European fairy tale "Snow White".

In the film, similar to the Brothers Grimm story, the Evil Queen is cold, cruel, and extremely vain, and obsessively desires to remain the "fairest in the land". She becomes madly envious over the beauty of her stepdaughter, Princess Snow White, as well as the attentions of the Prince from another land; such love triangle element is one of Disney's changes to the story. This leads her to plot the death of Snow White and ultimately on the path to her own demise, which in the film is indirectly caused by the Seven Dwarfs. The film's version of the Queen character uses her dark magic powers to actually transform herself into an old woman instead of just taking a disguise like in the Grimms' story; this appearance of hers is commonly referred to as the Wicked Witch or alternatively as the Old Hag or just the Witch.

Gyne

Gyne is the primary reproductive female caste of social insects (especially ants, wasps, and bees of order Hymenoptera). Gynes are those destined to become queens, whereas female workers are typically sterile and cannot become queens. A colony with multiple queens is said to be a polygyne form, whereas with only one is a monogyne form.

The fire ant Solenopsis invicta is known to have colonies in both polygyne and monogyne forms.

The small red ant, Leptothorax acervorum, has colonies that switch from monogyny to polygyny as a result of seasonal fluctuations.

The little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata produces unique kinds of meiotic oocytes with a drastic reduction in recombination. These oocytes may either fuse together for gyne production (automictic parthenogenesis with central fusion) or be fertilized by male gametes for the production of workers.

In the wasp species Apoica flavissima queens display distinct morphological differences from the sterile worker class. In Ropalidia plebeiana, gynes do not stay in the nest after they emerge as adults, but may spend their winters in their maternal nests.

Day (automobile)

The Day Utility was an automobile manufactured in Detroit, Michigan by the Day Automobile Company from 1911-14. The Day used a four-cylinder, 30 horsepower (22 kW) engine and shaft drive. Removal of the rear seat and doors allowed the car to be converted from a five-seater touring car to a light truck in one minute. As a truck, the Day was able to carry up to 1,000 lb (450 kg) in a 36-inch (910 mm) by 96-inch (2,400 mm) cargo space. The rear seat could be lifted away by triggering two spring locks. The Day had an advertised price of $950US.

References

Day (Michelangelo)

Day is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo, datable to 1526–31. It is a pair with Night on the tomb of Giuliano de' Medici in the Medici Chapel in San Lorenzo in Florence.

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Henry Ford

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production.

Although Ford did not invent the automobile or the assembly line, he developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford. In doing so, Ford converted the automobile from an expensive curiosity into a practical conveyance that would profoundly impact the landscape of the twentieth century. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. As the owner of the Ford Motor Company, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with "Fordism": mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers. Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. His intense commitment to systematically lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that put dealerships throughout most of North America and in major cities on six continents. Ford left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation and arranged for his family to control the company permanently.